Principle Investigator: Darin Freeburg
Darin Freeburg is an associate professor in the iSchool @ USC, teaching and researching in the areas of leadership, information behavior, and knowledge management.
His most recent research has focused on public library workplaces, including the nature of staff autonomy, workplace complexity, and routine dynamics.
Freeburg's work has appeared in places like the Journal of Documentation, the Journal of Information Science, and the Journal of Librarianship & Information Science.
Research Assistant: Katie Klein
Katie Klein (she/her) is a Ph.D. student and adjunct instructor at USC. She holds an MLIS from Rutgers University and has worked in public and school libraries. Her research article “’What Library?’: A Survey of Charter School Leaders About School Library Services” is published in School Libraries Worldwide and won a 2023 AASL Research Grant.
She was also awarded the 2023 ALISE / University of Washington Information School Youth Services Graduate Student Travel Award.
Project Advisory Team
Jaena Rae Cabrera
Jaena Rae Cabrera is a branch manager with the San Francisco Public Library. At SFPL, she is part of the library's Racial Equity Committee. Jaena is also active in the library world as president of the Asian Pacific American Librarians Association, editor-in-chief of WOC+Lib, member of the Digital Public Library of America's Curation Corps, and editor for In The Library With The Lead Pipe. Outside of library work, she enjoys walks, a good cup of coffee, and spending time with her three cats.
Lauren Comito
Lauren Comito is a cape wearing, ukulele playing, sword swinging, activist librarian in NYC. She is currently a Branch Manager at Brooklyn Public Library and is founder and the Chairwoman of the Board of Urban Librarians Unite, a national c3 not for profit focusing on providing training, advocacy, and support for front-line library staff working in large urban systems. Lauren has spent the last 30 years figuring out how to make her ADHD work for her, and has done a pretty good job of it. She is creative, passionate about connecting library patrons to the services they need, and a true believer in the ability of the library to change people’s lives and communities for the better.
Shamella Cromartie
Shamella Cromartie, Ed.D. is associate dean for organizational performance and administration at Clemson University Libraries where her work emphasizes strategic planning, organizational development, public relations and inclusion in library services. Her major research interests lie in the library's role in impacting student success, as well as, equity in education. Cromartie takes a special interest in the recruitment and retention of underrepresented populations in the library profession.
Nicollette Davis
Nicollette Davis (she/her) is a librarian who lives and works on Houma and Chahta Yakni land (Now known as Baton Rouge, Louisiana). She's an Assistant Librarian at Louisiana State University and is a liaison for Social Work, Kinesiology, and Health Sciences. Before moving to an academic library, she spent three years working in public libraries as a supervising librarian. Her interests include critical librarianship, BIPOC community building, community engagement, and person-centered practices in LIS. In 2023, she was selected as an Emerging Leader by the American Library Association.
Deborah Dutcher
Deborah relocated from Colebrook, NH to the state capital of Concord in 2014 where she has been the Library Services Consultant at the New Hampshire State Library for almost 6 years. Deborah holds an MLIS from Drexel University. She has decades of experience as a Library Director and Pre-K–12 Media Specialist. She has served as President of the Vermont Library Association and the New England Library Association. Currently she sits on the boards of the Collaborative Summer Library Program, Let’s Move in Libraries, New Hampshire Environmental Educators, and Partnership Committee of the Association for Rural and Small Libraries.
Kristin Hare
Kristin Hare (she/her) is a Children’s Services Manager at Charleston County Public Library where she has become a leader in equity work, serving on CCPL’s Strategic Vision Planning Committee, EDI Committee, and Children’s Annual Booklist Committee. Her current interests include creating accessible and culturally conscious programming for Spanish speaking patrons, family literacy programming and outreach, and building community partnerships. Kristin serves as the Chair of the South Carolina Library Association’s Rainbow Round Table and is a member of the Conference Planning Committee. She holds a B.A. in English and an MLIS from University of South Carolina.
Randy Dantrell Heath
Randy Dantrell Heath is an award-winning librarian and Graduate Advisor for the iSchool at the University of South Carolina, where he also leads special projects and serves as a subject matter expert. He holds a Master’s in Library and Information Science, EDI Certificate, and a Bachelor’s in Business and Marketing, all from USC.
Known for his genuine and kind leadership, his career spans library management, workforce development, and project coordination, delivering impactful initiatives that connect libraries, information science, and community engagement. He served on the South Carolina Library Association Board and the USC’s Alumni Committee for ALA Accreditation. Recent accolades include being named an American Library Association Spectrum Scholar, USC Augusta Baker Scholar, and American Library Association 2024 Emerging Leader.
Randy enjoys time with his wife, four children, and puppy, grilling, coaching youth basketball, and video games. He attributes his success to his incredible family and guidance from mentors.
Rakisha Kearns-White
Rakisha Kearns-White is a 2023 Library Journal Mover and Shaker as well as the 2022 recipient of Brooklyn Public Library's Dr. Lucille C. Thomas Award for Excellence in Librarianship. She was a young adult librarian for 19 years at the Brooklyn Public Library's Central Branch before being promoted to manager of the library’s Kings Bay branch in February 2024. She is known for being her library's sex positive, BTS-loving, period equity advocate. Her focus over the past seven years has been facilitating sexuality education for teens; advocating for the prevention of compassion fatigue in library workers; and making the public library a welcoming space for all. She was elected recently to the executive board of the New York Library Association and as librarian vice president for the Brooklyn Library Guild, union Local 1482. Finally, Rakisha has spent the last two years speaking at various library conferences and panels on the importance of menstrual advocacy and sex education literacy in libraries; creating LGBTQ+ inclusive library spaces; and how library workers can stay motivated during tough times.
Elaine Tai
Elaine Tai is a Supervising Librarian at the Berkeley Public Library, where she helps guide and coordinate services and community engagement to serve local children and families. She’s greatly interested in the intersection of social justice and librarianship and the biases rooted throughout our profession, as well as issues like wayfinding and usability. She has various professional affiliations, including Youth Programming Advisory for the Bay Area Book Festival, Advisory Board for California Libraries Learn (a California State Library & CLA project), and Chair for the APALA Program Planning Committee, having previously worked on various other award and professional development committees. She is also the author of the picture book Yes Means Yes, illustrated by Kai Kwong, and now out from Ulysses Press. In her spare time she is a wannabe patron of the arts, mineral specimen addict, and a [very] amateur artist.